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Thrift store chic

Chanel laid off 200 temporary workers in Paris. Hazel boutique is in liquidation. Holt Renfrew has piles of discounted merchandise not moving.

There is a shame attached to luxury: The New Yorker has reported that customers at Prada have been asking clerks to put their purchases in unmarked bags.

Is it unseemly to spend money publicly? Is it the end of bling? Karl Lagerfeld has decreed it so, heralding "the new modesty."

The rich will always be with us but there will be less conspicuous consumption. They won't be flaunting $30,000 crocodile handbags when friends are losing their houses.

Savvy shoppers are still in the malls scooping up what are now Boxing Month bargains and "gently used," "pre-owned" or "like-new" second-hand goods in consignment shops. There is a reverse snobbism: shoppers brag about what they snag at a low price.

"We're sorry about the economic situation but it is a good time for our industry," says Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Association of Resale & Thrift Shops.

If the average sales increase among resale stores was about 35 per cent in the U.S., what is the consignment situation locally?

Nancy Moore, owner of Think Twice, a ladies' designer apparel and accessories consignment shop at 1679 Lakeshore Rd. W., in Mississauga, has been in the resale biz for 12 years. She saw a spike in sales until the economy started tanking.

"We were bang on target until the end of October, when the negativity started and people started panicking," Moore says. "People are afraid to spend a dime. A lot of people don't know if they will have a job tomorrow."

Consignment stores such as Moore's carry a mix of new and pre-loved clothes (not more than two years old), which are high-end, fashionable and dry cleaned. The new merchandise includes end-of-lines and manufacturer samples.

"Boutiques carry inventories that would choke a horse," Moore points out. "They have to pay suppliers. With consignment, I don't own it. I can give it back."

Resale items are up to one-third of the retail price, and new items are half. The split between seller/consignee and the shop is in the neighbourhood of 45/55 or 50/50, at the discretion of the store.

A pair of almost pristine Escada boots in their original box is marked down at Think Twice from $660 to $130. Moore also has a good inventory of designer handbags, including Burberry, Christian Dior, Gucci, Miu Miu and Moschino.

"We have a waiting list," says Moore. "There are an amazing number of people in this city with a lot of money. Where are these people? I want their purses."

According to a poll by Harris Interactive and eBay, 70 per cent of adults say buying used is more socially acceptable now than it was five years ago.

"It's not a stigma anymore," Moore says. "I hate the term `used clothes.' A lot of people have personal shoppers at Holt's and the clothes come in with their original tags. They have never been worn.

"When people come in, they ask, `Is this new or used?' My reply is `If you can't tell the difference, we are doing a good job.' "

"People are curious and more open to (the) resale concept," says Kary Dick, owner of Second Nature Boutique at 514 Mount Pleasant Rd. "It is becoming more acceptable because it is funky and fun. I have regulars who come in every week and bring in friends. They go, `Wow, this is resale. This is not what I thought.' A lot is word-of-mouth and the media helps (by) advocating recycling.

"For years, ladies who consigned would go out of the shop ducking their heads, embarrassed. Now they try things on. It's because we are all in the same boat now."

It's the second generation of Second Nature. Dick took over the store 10 years ago from the original owner – her mom, Ruth Silverberg, who opened the shop 36 years ago.

Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags are in the window. Such brands as Yves Saint Laurent, Max Mara, Burberry and Chanel are scattered among the three floors, with the downstairs merchandise marked as 70 per cent off the tag prices. A size 6 Dries Van Noten skirt is $150.

"Ladies are thrilled to wear cashmere, Missoni, Chanel at affordable prices," says Dick. "Better-quality clothes make someone feel better. You can see their new confidence in their body language. When they put it on, their shoulders go up. You get spoiled by quality and you get it at reasonable prices."

The shop's business is brisk; they even opened a second location during the holidays with overflow stock. Dick has 4,000 consignees and counting. Women aren't giving their cast-off Armani gowns to cleaning ladies anymore, only to see them sold on eBay.

"Our consignment has increased 20 per cent because people are purging," Dick says. "You don't need five winter coats or six of everything. The distributors have end lots or send me samples. It's been a slow season in retail."

Dick is even slashing her prices. "I tell my consignees to be flexible. I'll sell a Chanel at $450 rather than $750."

Over the holidays, a woman was deliberating over a pair of black peau de soie Manolo Blahnik pumps originally priced at $800 and marked down to $350.

"I told her she could have them for $150," says Dick. "She said it was her 50th birthday and never in her wildest dreams could she ever afford a pair of Blahniks. She said, `I feel like a lady' and started crying."

Norma King-Wilson, owner of Shoppe d'Or at 18 Cumberland St. – where never-worn Chanel boots have been known to go for $250 – has barely recovered from the feeding frenzy of their Boxing Day sale.

"We pushed 600 pieces out the door in one single day," she says. "That is unheard of. We doubled our sales from last year's Boxing Day."

Shoppe d'Or was opened 64 years ago by her grandmother. King-Wilson, a veteran of four recessions, saw this one coming.

"By May, more clothes were coming in and more (were) buying. By July, I was taking in so many clothes it felt like September."

King-Wilson sees a spike in business during every recession. "We are up 35 per cent from the second half of last year," she says.

In a recession, King-Wilson says sharing the wealth makes sense.

"The days of the $30,000 handbag with a five-year wait list are over." She notes a luxury bag could represent "car payments for a quarter of a year or two months' rent.

"It doesn't make sense," she says. "People who can afford $30,000 bags won't pay it because they don't want to be seen over-consuming."

Perhaps they will resell the bags. Nancy Moore is waiting for them at Think Twice.

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